View source for Central Provinces

{{other uses|Central provinces (disambiguation)}}
{{short description|Province of British India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2019}}
{{Infobox former subdivision
|native_name = 
|conventional_long_name =Central Provinces 
|common_name =Central Provinces
|nation = [[British India]]
|subdivision = [[Presidencies and provinces of British India|Province]]
|era = 
|year_start = 1861
|date_start = 
|event_start= Merger of the [[Saugor and Nerbudda Territories]] and [[Nagpur Province]]
|year_end = 1903
|date_end = 
|event_end= Creation of the [[Central Provinces and Berar]]
|event1 = [[Nimar]] added to Central Provinces
|date_event1 = 1864
|p1 =Saugor and Nerbudda Territories
|p2 =Nagpur Province
|s1 =Central Provinces and Berar
|flag_p1 = British Raj Red Ensign.svg
|flag_p2 = British Raj Red Ensign.svg
|flag_s1 = British Raj Red Ensign.svg
|image_flag =British Raj Red Ensign.svg
|image_coat = Indian Embassy in London wall plaque (1).jpg
|image_map =Central Provinces India 1903.gif
|image_map_caption = Central Provinces and Berar in 1903, before the 1905 changes to the eastern boundary
|stat_area1 =
|stat_year1 =
|stat_pop1 =
|capital    = [[Nagpur]] (primary capital)<br />[[Pachmarhi]], [[Hoshangabad district]] (summer capital)   
|footnotes = {{EB1911 |wstitle=Central Provinces and Berar |volume=5 |pages=681–3}}
}}
[[File:FamineStrickenChildren Jubbulpore CP 1897.jpeg|thumb|right|Famine stricken children in [[Jubbulpore Division|Jubbulpore]], Central Provinces, in 1897]]
The '''Central Provinces''' was a [[Presidencies and provinces of British India|province]] of [[British Raj|British India]]. It comprised British conquests from the [[Mughal Empire|Mughals]] and [[Maratha Empire|Marathas]] in central India, and covered parts of present-day [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[Chhattisgarh]] and [[Maharashtra]] states. [[Nagpur]] was the primary winter capital while [[Pachmarhi]] served as the regular summer retreat. It became the [[Central Provinces and Berar]] in 1903.

The Central Provinces was formed in 1861 by the merger of the [[Saugor and Nerbudda Territories]] and [[Nagpur Province]]. The district of [[Nimar]] which was administered by the [[Central India Agency]] was added in 1864.<ref name="PLNM">{{cite book|last1=Pateriya|first1=Raghaw Raman|title=Provincial Legislatures and the National Movement|date=12 August 1991 |publisher=Northern Book Centre|location=New Delhi|isbn=81-85119-58-9}}</ref> It was almost an island encircled by a sea of "native States" such as [[Bhopal State]] and [[Rewa State]] to the north, the [[Chota Nagpur States]] and [[Kalahandi State]] to the east, and the [[Nizam of Hyderabad|Nizam]]'s territories of [[Hyderabad State|Hyderabad]] to the south and [[Berar Province|Berar]] to the west.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.lib.virginia.edu/area-studies/SouthAsia/Ideas/CP/ch02regions.html |title= Colonial Administration and Social Developments in middle India: The Central Provinces, 1861-1921 - Ph. D. Dissertation |year=1980 |author=Philip F. McEldowney |publisher=University of Virginia
}}</ref>

==Geography==
The Central Provinces was [[landlocked]], occupying the mountain ranges, plateaus, and river valleys in the centre of the [[Indian subcontinent]].

The northernmost portion of the state extended onto the [[Bundelkhand]] upland, whose northward-flowing rivers are tributaries of the [[Yamuna River|Yamuna]] and [[Ganges River|Ganges]]. The [[Vindhya Range]] runs east and west, forming the watershed between the Ganges-Yamuna basin and the [[Narmada River]] basin, which occupies the center and west of the province, and flows westward to empty into the [[Arabian Sea]]. The upper Narmada valley forms the center of the [[Mahakoshal]] region. [[Jabalpur]] (formerly Jubbulpore) lay on the upper Narmada, and was an important railway junction.

The [[Satpura Range]] divides the Narmada valley from the [[Deccan Plateau]] to the south. The Central Provinces included the northeastern portion of the Deccan, drained by tributaries of the [[Godavari River]] including the [[Wainganga River|Wainganga]], [[Wardha River|Wardha]], and [[Indravati River|Indravati]]. These flow east towards the [[Bay of Bengal]]. A portion of Berar lay in the upper basin of the [[Tapti River]], which drains westward into the Arabian Sea. The portion of the Central Provinces on the Deccan Plateau formed the [[Vidarbha]] region, which includes [[Nagpur]], the capital of the province.

The eastern portion of the state lay in the upper [[Mahanadi River]] basin, which forms fertile rice-growing region of [[Chhattisgarh]]. The [[Maikal Range]] separates the basins of the Narmada and the Mahanadi. The [[Chota Nagpur Plateau]] extended into the northeast corner of the province.

==Demographics==

{{Historical population
|percentages=pagr
|1866| 9,000,000
|1872| 9,250,000
|1881| 11,500,000
|1891| 13,000,000
|1901| 11,873,029
}}
General censuses were held in 1866, 1872, 1881, 1891 and 1901. The population in 1866 was over 9 million, and in 1872 over 9.25 million. 1869 was a famine year. There were epidemics of smallpox and cholera in 1872, 1878, and 1879. By 1881 the population had risen to 11.5 million, and by 1891 to nearly 13 million. The population in 1901 was 11,873,029, a reduction of 800,000 from 1891. The lack of [[Monsoon of South Asia|summer monsoon]] rains in 1897 and 1900 led to widespread crop failures and huge famines in those years, and there were partial crop failures in four other years in the decade, with epidemics of cholera in seven of the ten years. A portion of the decrease (between one-eighth and one-quarter) was from emigration to [[Assam]] and other provinces of India.<ref>''Imperial Gazetteer of India'', (New ed.), Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1908-1909. Vol. 10, Page 19.</ref>

===Linguistic regions===
The central Provinces contained two distinct linguistic regions: [[Mahakoshal]], consisting mainly of [[Hindi language|Hindi]]-speaking districts, and [[Vidarbha]], chiefly, but not exclusively, a [[Marathi language|Marathi]]-speaking area. The linguistic regions could not be fully integrated as a unit.<ref>Raghaw Raman Pateriya, ''Provincial Legislatures and the National Movement''. Northern Book Centre, 1992. pg. 9</ref>

In the 1901 census, 6,111,000 (63% percent) of the population spoke variants of Hindi, chiefly [[Chhattisgarhi language|Chhattisgarhi]] (27%), [[Bundeli language|Bundeli]] (15%), [[Bagheli language|Bagheli]] (10%) and [[Malvi language|Malvi]] or Rajasthani (5%). 2,107,000 (20%) spoke Marathi, the majority language of [[Wardha District|Wardha]], [[Nagpur District|Nagpur]], [[Chanda District|Chanda]], and [[Bhandara District|Bhandara]] districts, and the southern portions of Nimar, Betul, Chhindwara, and Balaghat districts. [[Oriya language|Oriya]] speakers numbered 1,600,000, or 13.5%, but the transfer of [[Sambalpur District]] to Bengal in 1905 reduced the number of Oriya speakers to 292,000. There were 94,000 [[Telugu language|Telugu]] speakers, mostly in Chanda District. Of the 730,000 who spoke other [[Dravidian languages]], the majority spoke [[Gondi language|Gondi]], and 60,000 spoke [[Korku language|Korku]]. 74,000 spoke [[Munda languages]].<ref>''Imperial Gazetteer of India'', (New ed.), Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1908-1909. Vol. 10, pp. 24-25.</ref>

==Politics and administration==
The Central Provinces were administered from 1861 to 1920 by a chief commissioner.

Administratively, the Central Provinces consisted of four divisions ([[Nerbudda Division|Nerbudda]], [[Jubbulpore Division|Jubbulpore]], [[Nagpur division|Nagpur]], and [[Chhattisgarh division|Chhattisgarh]]), which were further divided into 18 districts - five districts in each division except Chhattisgarh, which had three districts. Berar was under the administrative authority of the Chief Commissioner for the Central Provinces, but administered separately. The Central Provinces also contained 15 princely states, which accounted for 31,188 square miles and a population in 1901 of 1,631,140, approximately 15% of the total population. The largest was [[Bastar state|Bastar]], with an area of 13,062 miles, and the smallest was Satki, with an area of 138 square miles. The princely states were in Chhattisgarh Division, except for [[Makrai State|Makrai]], which was in [[Hoshangabad District]].<ref>''Imperial Gazetteer of India'', (New ed.), Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1908-1909. Vol. 10, Page 65.</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of governors of the Central Provinces and Berar]]

==References==
<references/>
* Markovits, Claude (ed.) (2004). ''A History of Modern India: 1480-1950''. Anthem Press, London.
{{Presidencies and provinces of British India}}
{{Nagpur}}
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[[Category:Central Provinces| ]]
[[Category:Subdivisions of British India]]
[[Category:Provinces of British India]]
[[Category:History of Madhya Pradesh]]
[[Category:History of Maharashtra]]
[[Category:History of Chhattisgarh]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1861]]
[[Category:Historical Indian regions]]
[[Category:1861 establishments in British India]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1936]]